Edge bandings for articles of furniture

ABSTRACT

As a preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, a pair of outstanding longitudinal projections or parallel flanges are arranged along the concave rearward face of an elongated banding strip of a deformable material, with one of these flanges being centrally located in relation to the width of the strip and the other of these flanges being located parallel and adjacent to one edge thereof. An article of furniture, such as a chair or table, having a horizontal planar member with an exposed upright edge is prepared for mounting of this elongated strip by cutting an elongated groove along the exposed edge that is parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of the member and sized for receiving the central flange of the banding strip. The elongated strip is then flattened along the exposed grooved edge with its central flange being pressed into the groove and its marginal flange overlapping the underside of the planar member. Once the banding strip is in position, fasteners are driven upwardly at spaced intervals through the marginal flange of the strip into the lower portion of the furniture member and to a depth sufficient to fully penetrate the centrally located flange in the groove and enter the upper portion of the furniture member.

O Unlted States Patent 1111 3,590,754

[72] Inventor Robert E. Kjer Jakobsen FOREIGN PATENTS m 1,186,993 2/1965Germany 108/27 [21] Appl. No 840,946 I22] Fflcd July n 1969 PrimaryExammer-Bobby R. Gay [45] paemcd Ju|y 6, 197] Assislant Examiner-Glenn0. Fmch V [73] Assignce Daystrom Virtue, Inc. Atlorneys-Ernest R.Archambeau, Jr., William .I. Beard,

Houston, Tex. David L. Moseley, Edward M Roney and William R.

Sherman EDGE BANDINGS FOR ARTICLES 0F FURNITURE ABSTRACT: AS a preferredembodiment Of: the lI'IVFHIl OH dis- 6 claims 3 Drawing Figs closedhereln, a pair of outstandlng lo ngrtudmal PTOJCCUOIIS or parallelflanges are arranged along the concave rearward face [52] US. Cl108/161, of an e|ongatcd banding Strip of a deformable maml-ialy with52/6141 52/6241 297/463 one of these flanges being centrally located inrelation to the [Si Int. Cl 1 A47b 13/00 width of the strip and theother of these flanges being ocawd [50] Field of Search 108/26, 27,parallel and adjacent to one edge thereof An anide of fumi 28; 297/444448 463; 52/614-624; 3lzll4o'l' ture, such as a chair or table, having ahorizontal planar 1401' 1403' member with an exposed upright edge isprepared for mountin of this elon ated stri b cuttin an elongated roove[56] References cued al ng the exposei edge thzft is parallel to theupper and lower UNITED STATES PATENTS surfaces of the member and sizedfor receiving the central 1,936,224 ll/l933Awbrey........................ 52/614 X flange of the banding strip. Theelongated strip is then flat- 2, 5/1950 Fli k 52/614 tened along theexposed grooved edge with its central flange 2, 4 1 /1 1 B l 52/614being pressed into the groove and its marginal flange over- 2. 2 /1 n -n52/623 lapping the underside of the planar member. Once the band-2,709,632 5/1955 h 2/ l 4 ing strip is in position, fasteners are drivenupwardly at spaced 2,734,73 2/ 1 Wi| 0n,Jr-. 2/ 4 intervals through themarginal flange of the strip into the 2,757,717 8/1956 Adler 52/614lower portion of the furniture member and to a depth suffi- 2. 3/1953 mPli-- 2/ 2 cient to fully penetrate the centrally located flange in the2,940,305 6/1960 Nordmark 2/ 14 groove and enter the upper portion ofthe furniture member.

PATENTED JUL 6 I97! FIG.3

F/GZ

Robert E. K jer Jakobsen IN VENTOR A TTORNEY z EDGE BANDINGS FORARTICLES OlF FURNITURE In the manufacture of furniture, many articlesare fabricated from materials having exposed edges that must be eithercovered with a decorative trim or finished in some attractive manner.For example, the exposed planar surfaces of chair seats or tabletopsformed from typical laminated members of plywood or plastic can, ofcourse, be attractively finished in a suitable manner to provide amarketable article of furniture. However, the laminated layers or coresexposed along the edge surfaces of such laminated members simply cannotbe economically finished so as to present an attractive appearance.

Accordingly, it is customary to cover these unattractive exposed edgeswith decorative strips of plastic, metal or wood which are eitheradhesively bonded along the edges or secured thereto by fasteners.Typical of the edge-banding strips used heretofore are so-called"T-moldings" which generally are comprised of an elongated strip havinga decorative outer face and a single longitudinal projection or flangecentrally located along its inner face. To mount such banding strips,grooves are cut along the exposed edge surfaces of the furniture memberparallel to and approximately midway between its upper and lower planarsurfaces. These T-molding strips are then laid along the exposed edgeswith their laterally projecting flanges being received by the elongatedgrooves. Once a strip is in position, a plurality of nails or staplesare driven at spaced in tervals into the underside of the furnituremember with the upper end of each fastener penetrating the flange withinthe slot to secure the banding strip to the furniture member. Althoughthis technique satisfactorily covers such exposed edges, it has beenfound that these banding strips will ultimately be pulled away from theupper corners of these exposed edge surfaces to leave an unsightly gapbetween the upper surface of the furniture member and the inner face ofthe decorative strip.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to providearticles of furniture having their exposed unattractive edge surfacescovered by new and improved edge-banding strips arranged in such amanner as to provide a decorative appearance as well as to remainsecurely mounted thereon.

This and other objects of the present invention are attained byproviding new and improved molding strips of a deformable or resilientplastic material and having a longitudinal medial flange and alongitudinal marginal flange along their rearward faces and decorativeforward faces. A longitudinal groove is out along those exposed edgesurfaces of an article of furniture that are to be covered and a moldingstrip is laid therealong with its rearward face being flattened againstthe edge surface to press the medial flange into the groove and itsmarginal flange overlapping the adjacent intersecting surface of thefurniture member. To securely mount the strips, fasteners are driventhrough the marginal flanges and into the furniture member in such amanner as to fully penetrate the medial flanges and reenter thefurniture member on the opposite side of the grooves cut therein.

The novel features of the present invention are set forth withparticularity in the appended claims. The invention, together withfurther objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by way ofthe following description of an exemplary article of furniture arrangedin accordance with the principles of the invention as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial view of a new and improved article of furniturehaving its exposed edge surfaces covered with an edgebanding strip andarranged in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the lines 22 inFIG. l for illustrating the placement of the edgemolding strip before itis secured in position; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 inFIG. I and depicting the elongated strip after it has been secured tothe article of furniture.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an article of furniture, such as a chair or atable 10, is partially depicted as including a horizontal planar member,such as the seat of the chair or the tabletop II, that is supported at aconvenient elevation in the usual fashion by a plurality oflegs as at12. As depicted, the tabletop 11 has an exposed edge surface 13 whichhas been previously prepared by cutting an elongated groove 14' aroundthe perimeter of the edge surface, with this groove being locatedapproximately midway between and parallel to the upper and the lowerplanar surfaces 15 and 16 of the top. A decorative strip E7 of adeformable resilient plastic material, such as a vinyl, butyrate, orother extrudible plastics, and arranged in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention has been mounted along the exposededge surface 13.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, in its preferred embodiment, theedge-banding strip 17 has a generally flat, elongated body 18 having itsforward or outer face 1.9 formed in a desired decorative configurationand its rearward or inner face formed into a slight concavity as at 20.The width of the deformable strip 17 is selected so as to be at least asgreat as the thickness of the tabletop II. A first longitudinal flange21 is integrally formed along the banding strip 17 and projectsrearwardly from about the midpoint of its concave inner face 20. Asecond integrally formed, longitudinal flange 22 is arranged along thelower edge of the rearward face 20 of the strip 17 in such a manner thatthe distance between the upper face 23 of this marginal flange and theupper unflanged edge 24 of the banding strip is about equal to theoverall thickness of the tabletop Ill. In this manner, the medial flange21 of the banding strip 17 may be readily inserted into the previouslycut peripheral groove 14 along the edge surface 13 with the upper face23 of the lower marginal flange 22 overlapping the underside B6 of thetabletop 11. It will be recognized, of course, that although the spacingbetween the flanges 21 and 22 as well as the height of body 18 above theflange face 23 must be coordinated in relation to the thickness of thetabletop 11, the lower portion 25 of the strip body can be extended ifdesired to give the visual impression of a greater thickness to thetabletop as well as to provide a decorative effeet.

It will be appreciated from FIG. 2 that when the resilient banding strip17 is first positioned along the edge surface 13, the concavity 20 willleave the base of the centrally located medial flange 21 slightly spacedaway from the edge surface of the tabletop 11. Then, as best seen inFIG. 3, by pressing the strip 17 inwardly against the edge surface 13,the resilience of the strip will firmly urge the upper edge 24 of thestrip against the upper edge of the tabletop 11. Then, a plurality ofsuitable fasteners 26 (such as nails, screws, or staples) are drivenupwardly at spaced intervals through the lower flange 22 and on into thetabletop 11 in such a manner as to intersect and penetrate the medialflange 21 within the groove 14.

It will also be noted from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the upper and lowersurfaces of the medial flange 21 are formed with one or more truncatedor wedgelike projections, as at 27 and 28. In this manner, as the medialflange 21 is inserted into the groove M, these wedgelike projections 27and 28 will be partially compressed between the upper and lower walls ofthe groove. Thus, although the medial flange 21 can be readily insertedinto the groove M, the resiliency of the plastic material will beeffective to bias these wedge-shaped projections 27 and 28 tightlyagainst the opposed walls of the groove so as to further secure thebanding strip 17 in position around the exposed edges 13 of the tabletop11.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that once the decorative strip 17 issecured in the fashion illustrated in FIG. 3, the resiliency of the body18 will be efiective for maintaining the upper edge 24 of the stripfirmly pressed around the upper peripheral edge or comer of the tabletop11. Similarly, by virtue of the wedge-shaped projections 27 and 28 aswell as the fastening members 26 passing through both of the flanges 211and 22, the decorative strip 17 will be firmly secured along the exposededge surfaces 13 of the tabletop I1.

I claim;

1. An article of furniture including: a member having upper and lowergenerally horizontal surfaces spaced from one another and terminating ata vertical edge surface having a horizontal groove therein extendingalong said edge surface between and parallel to said upper and lowersurfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled to saidmember; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposed horizontallyalong said edge surface, said elongated strip having an attractiveforward face and a normally concave rearward face with first and secondparalleled flanges projecting rearwardly therefrom along the length ofsaid strip, said first flange partially overlapping said lower surface,said second flange being between the upper and lower edges of said stripand disposed within said horizontal groove; and a plurality of fastenersat spaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of saidfasteners being driven upwardly through said first flange into saidlower surface and on through said second flange within said horizontalgroove for maintaining said rearward face flattened against said edgesurface and resiliently urging said upper strip edge rearwardly againstthe upper portion of said edge surface.

2. The article of furniture of claim 1 further including: at least onewedge-shaped outstanding projection extending along said second flangeand sized and adapted for snugly retaining said second flange withinsaid horizontal groove.

3. A table including: a tabletop having upper and lower spaced surfacesgenerally parallel to one another and bounded by peripheral edgesurfaces respectively having an outwardly facing groove thereinextending around said tabletop midway between and parallel to said upperand lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled tosaid tabletop; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposedaround said peripheral edge surfaces, said elongated strip having anattractive outer face and normally concave inner face with first andsecond paralleled flanges projecting inwardly therefrom along the lengthof said strip, said first flange being extended across and overlappingthe contiguous portions of said lower table surface, said second flangebeing between the upper and lower edges of said strip and snugly fittedwithin said outwardly facing grooves; and a plurality of fasteners atspaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of saidfasteners being driven through said first flange into said contiguousportions of said lower table surface and on through said second flangewithin said outwardly facing grooves for maintaining said inner faceflattened against said peripheral edge surfaces to resiliently urge saidupper strip edge inwardly against the upper portions of said peripheraledge surfaces.

4. The table of claim 3 further including: at least one wedgeshapedoutstanding projection extending along said second flange and sized andadapted for snugly retaining said second flange within said outwardlyfacing grooves.

5. A chair including: a seat having upper and lower spaced surfacesgenerally parallel to one another and bounded by peripheral edgesurfaces respectively having an outwardly facing groove thereinextending around said chair midway between and parallel to said upperand lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled tosaid chair seat; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposedaround said peripheral edge surfaces, said elongated strip having anattractive outer face and normally concave inner face with first andsecond paralleled flanges projecting inwardly therefrom along the lengthof said strip, said first flange being extended across and overlappingthe contiguous portions of said lower seat surface, said second flangebeing between the upper and lower edges of said strip and snugly fittedwithin said outwardly facing grooves; and a plurality of fasteners atspaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of saidfasteners being driven through said first flange into said contiguousportions of said lower seat surface and on through said second flangewithin said outwardly facing grooves for maintaining said inner faceflattened against said peripheral edge surfaces to resiliently urge saidupper strip edge inwardly against the upger ortion of said peripheraledge surfaces.

. T e chair of claim 5 urther including: at least one wedgeshapedoutstanding projection extending along said second flange and sized andadapted for snugly retaining said second flange within said outwardlyfacing grooves.

1. An article of furniture including: a member having upper and lowergenerally horizontal surfaces spaced from one another and terminating ata vertical edge surface having a horizontal groove therein extendingalong said edge surface between and parallel to said upper and lowersurfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled to saidmember; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposed horizontallyalong said edge surface, said elongated strip having an attractiveforward face and a normally concave rearward face with first and secondparalleled flanges projecting rearwardly therefrom along the length ofsaid strip, said first flange partially overlapping said lower surface,said second flange being between the upper and lower edges of said stripand disposed within said horizontal groove; and a plurality of fastenersat spaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of saidfasteners being driven upwardly through said first flange into saidlower surface and on through said second flange within said horizontalgroove for maintaining said rearward face flattened against said edgesurface and resiliently urging said upper strip edge rearwardly againstthe upper portion of said edge surface.
 2. The article of furniture ofclaim 1 further including: at least one wedge-shaped outstandingprojection extending along said second flange anD sized and adapted forsnugly retaining said second flange within said horizontal groove.
 3. Atable including: a tabletop having upper and lower spaced surfacesgenerally parallel to one another and bounded by peripheral edgesurfaces respectively having an outwardly facing groove thereinextending around said tabletop midway between and parallel to said upperand lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legs dependently coupled tosaid tabletop; an elongated strip of a resilient material disposedaround said peripheral edge surfaces, said elongated strip having anattractive outer face and normally concave inner face with first andsecond paralleled flanges projecting inwardly therefrom along the lengthof said strip, said first flange being extended across and overlappingthe contiguous portions of said lower table surface, said second flangebeing between the upper and lower edges of said strip and snugly fittedwithin said outwardly facing grooves; and a plurality of fasteners atspaced intervals along the length of said first flange, each of saidfasteners being driven through said first flange into said contiguousportions of said lower table surface and on through said second flangewithin said outwardly facing grooves for maintaining said inner faceflattened against said peripheral edge surfaces to resiliently urge saidupper strip edge inwardly against the upper portions of said peripheraledge surfaces.
 4. The table of claim 3 further including: at least onewedge-shaped outstanding projection extending along said second flangeand sized and adapted for snugly retaining said second flange withinsaid outwardly facing grooves.
 5. A chair including: a seat having upperand lower spaced surfaces generally parallel to one another and boundedby peripheral edge surfaces respectively having an outwardly facinggroove therein extending around said chair midway between and parallelto said upper and lower surfaces; a plurality of upright legsdependently coupled to said chair seat; an elongated strip of aresilient material disposed around said peripheral edge surfaces, saidelongated strip having an attractive outer face and normally concaveinner face with first and second paralleled flanges projecting inwardlytherefrom along the length of said strip, said first flange beingextended across and overlapping the contiguous portions of said lowerseat surface, said second flange being between the upper and lower edgesof said strip and snugly fitted within said outwardly facing grooves;and a plurality of fasteners at spaced intervals along the length ofsaid first flange, each of said fasteners being driven through saidfirst flange into said contiguous portions of said lower seat surfaceand on through said second flange within said outwardly facing groovesfor maintaining said inner face flattened against said peripheral edgesurfaces to resiliently urge said upper strip edge inwardly against theupper portion of said peripheral edge surfaces.
 6. The chair of claim 5further including: at least one wedge-shaped outstanding projectionextending along said second flange and sized and adapted for snuglyretaining said second flange within said outwardly facing grooves.